Closing party and exhibition – by and for neighbours and district initiatives

With Dresdner Nachbarschaften, it has been possible to rediscover different neighbourhoods and local people in workshops, tours and storytelling cafés over the past months.

Who doesn’t know it: people live next door to each other, know each other or don’t know each other, help each other or sometimes don’t even suspect that help is needed next door. In a city like Dresden with countless residents, everyone has at least one neighbour with their very own stories. That’s why this year, in the context of the project „Dresdner Nachbarschaften – Damals, Heute, Morgen“, together with long-standing partners from various parts of the city, we invited people to visit initiatives and small oases just around the corner and to meet the people who are involved locally.

We can look back on a good 30 events with over 650 neighbours in eight districts: on the road in Gruna, Löbtau, Gorbitz, Prohlis and Johannstadt, as well as small detours to the Altstadt, Neustadt and Strehlen. All of this was only possible thanks to the commitment and support of a dozen volunteers, word acrobats, graphic artists, creatives and artists.

The meetings, exchanges and joint events with numerous associations, initiatives and committed neighbourhood groups have shown how important good neighbourhoods are. “Again and again the question came up why we do this project. It’s quite simple: because it’s important that we know our counterpart,” reports project leader Yvonn Spauschus. “Every person has their own story, but one thing unites us all: we live together on this planet, in this wonderful city. No one has to feel alone and lonely. Everyone can make their way into a community where they can make friends or simply enjoy being in company.”

“Gegenüber // The other side”

To say thank you and to celebrate together, we invited to the final party on the heights in the west of Dresden on the 1st of Advent. More than 70 interested neighbours – and not only from Gorbitz! – came together at Club Passage (under the auspices of JugendKunstschule Dresden). A special place: as a district cultural institution, it has been a fixture in Gorbitz since 1986 with a variety of offers and events for young and old. A “residential area club” with tradition, but certainly not dusty. In recent years, we have also been happy to be guests with our own events.

The Nachbarschaftswerkstatt Gorbitz (a contact point of Integrationsgesellschaft Sachsen), which supports young people and adults with non-profit work opportunities to “gain a foothold”, looked after the guests with home-baked stollen and Advent biscuits. And it was not only at the mobile coffee stand of Café für Alle, a neighbourhood initiative from Johannstadt, which can offer hot drinks where they are needed thanks to a cargo bike, that we got to chatting.

The exhibition “Gegenüber // The other side” gives an insight into the countless conversations, shared stories and the picture stories in self-designed memory books that were created during the project. Those who missed the opening can visit the exhibition free of charge until the end of January 2023! — Mon-Fri from 10 am – 2 pm — and during events at Club Passage.

In addition, one could browse through the lovingly designed neighbourhood brochure and delve further into the small oases of togetherness in Gruna, Löbtau, Gorbitz, Prohlis and Johannstadt, among others. It summarises special reports and quotations, e.g. stories about a “summer walk in Löbtau”, “Diverse neighbourhoods in Prohlis” or about “Paul, the jack-of-all-trades”, who sold the Sunday newspaper at a small stand in Gorbitz well into his 80s, had his chats and even brought the newspaper home to many a neighbour.

Not received a brochure yet?

Would you like to distribute copies of the Neighbourhoods brochure in your organisation or neighbourhood? Then contact us – at info@kulturaktiv.org or 0351 811 37 55 – and we will be happy to send you more brochures.

So it comes down to the people who are curious, who are moved and who make things happen. They are the ones who give the neighbourhoods in Dresden a face and hold them together.

The guests on this Sunday afternoon were as colourful as they were – they came from Gorbitz, Johannstadt, Prohlis, Löbtau, Neustadt, Gruna, Südvorstadt and many more. – were also the events of the Dresden neighbourhoods. A special guest – State Secretary Sebastian Vogel (Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Soziales und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt) – was able to see this for himself.

Curious now?

This celebration was not an end or a conclusion, but rather a tailwind: to continue, to reach out to each other and to make community possible – with and for the neighbourhood – sometimes closer, sometimes further away.

The project “Dresden Neighbourhoods” was and is not just a look through the keyhole, but a door opener! Take a look at old and new neighbours, visit the initiatives and associations in your neighbourhood! There are so many stories to discover! We will definitely remain loyal to the various neighbourhoods, new ideas and supporters are always welcome.